Why Pending Red Sox Free Agent Could Pace Early Offseason Pitching Market

Nick Pivetta reportedly received a qualifying offer from the Boston Red Sox on Monday, sparking an interesting start to the offseason.

Pivetta spent parts of five seasons with the Red Sox as his contract expired at the conclusion of the 2024 season. Now with the qualifying offer for this offseason set at $21.05 million, Pivetta should have plenty of interest this offseason.

“The name I want to talk about here is Nick Pivetta,” Morosi shared on MLB Network on Tuesday. “His market, from what I’ve been told the last couple of days, is surprisingly strong. … His stuff-plus, the peripheral numbers are ally very good. Strikeouts to walks he was up around almost five in terms of the ratio. Nick Pivetta, because of the underlying numbers.”

Arms such as Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford all made 30 starts in 2024 and would be the basis of the Boston rotation again in 2025. Lucas Giolito also returns after an injury ended his 2024 season in spring training after signing with the Red Sox in free agency.

There’s plenty of top arms on the market that the Red Sox should be monitoring from Corbin Burnes to Max Fried to Jack Flaherty. While that tier will shape the market, Pivetta’s decision should set a standard financially for other waves of starting pitching.

Pivetta already has $21 million on the table from the Red Sox that will dictate any multi-year deals he may wish to pursue on the open market. If he signs early, given his deadline to accept or decline the qualifying offer by Nov. 19, Pivetta could set the market for middle tiers of starting pitching.

Morosi believes it would be “pretty enticing” for Pivetta to take the immediate $13 million raise to stay with the Red Sox on the qualifying offer for the 2025 season.

The Red Sox and Pivetta both have key decisions regarding pitching futures this winter.